Unknown
by PurpleHipposRock
Summary: A 1x05 "Girl In The Flower Dress" WHN. I don't have the luxury of owning Marvel. *Sigh* Little bit of Skyward because I can't resist... XD


Unknown

He's the reigning champ of Battleships at SHIELD. He even beat Directory Fury once. Once. Director Fury never came back for more. He didn't like losing, and did everything he could to prevent it. It was too bad that Ward could see that, and made it play right into his hands. The reason he's good at Battleships is exactly the same reason that he's so good at poker; he's got a good poker face, and he can _always_ read his opponent.

Until Skye.

She's a mystery, an unknown element in their heady cocktail of easily read teammates. May's cool and aloof because once upon a time, she wasn't that way, and that was the way that got her hurt. He doesn't know the full story – it's ridiculously classified and redacted – and he doesn't really want to know what could make someone as good as May give up field work. Coulson has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour that he uses as a mask to hide his true nature, and he'll keep that mask up until the very last possible moment until he _has_ to reveal his true nature. FitzSimmons are both so pure, so innocent that it's almost ridiculous. They're so easy to read, it's like reading a child's book. Fitz tries desperately to show that he's just as dominant, just as much an alpha male as the others – Ward saw _right_ through his bravado as he tried to beat him at poker. Fitz was as unsubtle as a brick to the head. And Simmons – Simmons wanted to believe in the best of people, and do the best work that she could. She had a little "adventure" in her, that was the reason for their foray into the field, and she just wanted to do everything that she could.

But he _can't_ read Skye. Sure, he knows that she's hiding something – knew she was hiding something the moment that she stepped foot on the Bus, but other than that, he _can't_ figure her out. Doesn't know what makes her tick, doesn't know what she stands for. He gets close, and then she says something and it completely disproves him.

It's highly irritating.

The point of Battleships was to figure out her thought processes, figure out how she thinks – the problem was, he couldn't figure her out, and that's how he lost.

And then came the Rising Tide and her moronic boyfriend.

Okay, so _moronic_ was probably a bit unfair. He was renowned for his hacking abilities, even Ward had heard of him, and promptly began hating the Rising Tide a little bit more. He _had_ to be pretty smart, to be so good with computers, but that didn't mean that he wasn't an ideological tool. The propaganda that he'd spouted while in the interrogation room had even ideologue Skye yelling at him to shut up. Probably just as well Skye had done it, or else Ward would have gone in there and muzzled him to shut him up.

He feels… wounded… by Skye's betrayal. He thought that they were actually getting somewhere, even if that somewhere was just teasing banter, at least they were communicating. It was funny what people unconsciously slipped into conversation, random facts about themselves – like Skye liked M&M's, and she liked peanuts, but she didn't like peanut M&M's because to her, they taste funny.

May leaves him to his drinking after a single drink, claiming that flying while under the influence was frowned upon, despite the fact that the plane could land itself if it needed to.

He didn't want to _look_ at Skye, let alone accompany her to Coulson's office where Coulson was most likely about to finally get to the bottom of her secrets and lies. He knows that the way in which he dismissed her was a little mean – or even a little more than a little mean, telling her that because he was off the clock, he wasn't her SO, and therefore, wanted nothing to do with her.

He can still feel her hand in his as they ran to the security offices, where she disabled the lockdown faster than he could say "How long is this going to take?" Literally.

Coulson wanders down from his office a little while later, and pours himself a drink, sliding onto the seat that May had earlier vacated.

'You should keep training her,' he says quietly, experimentally swirling the liquid in the glass.

Ward shakes his head. 'Why, when we can't trust her?'

Coulson has a sip of his drink, and then says, 'I think we can, now.'

'We can't believe that she's done with the Rising Tide,' Ward says with a heavy sigh.

'I think we can,' Coulson murmurs, and Skye appears at that moment. Ward tries not to look at her, but he can't help but notice the shiny silver bangle around her wrist. She gives him a shy, almost tentative smile, but he simply stares back, hardening his gaze until she gets the point and retreats to her bunk. 'That was mean,' Coulson continues.

'You put a monitoring bracelet on her,' Ward says into his glass.

'It makes note of everything she does on anything with a computer-chip in it,' Coulson says. 'We'll know if she communicates with the Rising Tide, or anyone suspected of Rising Tide sympathies.'

'What does this make her, though?' Ward asks.

'It makes her what she's wanted to be all along. A girl searching for the truth,' Coulson sighs, before reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and placing a folded up print-out of the redacted document that she'd shown him on the bar.

'What is this?' Ward asks, unfolding it and looking over it. There are a few readable lines, but the vast majority of it is black lines.

'The only record that Skye can find on herself,' Coulson says.

'And it's been redacted by SHIELD,' Ward sighs, shaking his head. 'This explains why she was targeting us, hacking into us.'

'It's why she hasn't told us a last name, or even very much about herself. It's because she _can't_,' Coulson explains, and a sudden pang of sympathy appears in Ward's chest, and he can't bring himself to push it back down.

'Why would SHIELD redact someone's birth records?' Ward asks.

'Any number of reasons. Perhaps she was born in a SHIELD hospital – it's been known to happen, when women have gone into labour in an isolated area and have gotten into difficulties, and the helicarrier is nearby… but they don't usually redact the records for that.'

'She lived in an orphanage. Maybe her mom died in childbirth in a SHIELD hospital,' Ward speculates.

'We still wouldn't redact the records like that,' Coulson says, shaking his head.

Ward sighs. 'What if her parents are agents? I've heard of agents who refuse to have families because it can make them into targets.'

'It's a more likely possibility,' Coulson agrees, nodding.

A sudden thought pops into Ward's head, and refuses to go away.

'You've thought of something,' Coulson says casually, finishing his drink.

'It's kind of stupid, sir, and highly unlikely,' Ward sighs.

'Stupid and kind of unlikely is kind of what I do, Ward,' Coulson reminds him.

Ward lets out a soft sigh. 'What if her parents, or one of her parents, are on the Index?'

Coulson's eyes flick to him, and tell Ward that he was considering that exact situation. 'Has she shown any signs of powers?'

'She's as average as they come,' Ward says, shaking his head. 'Although she _did_ manage to finally tell the difference between the safety release and the magazine release.'

Coulson chuckles. 'We'll just have to wait and see where information takes us. I've requested the uncensored version of the document, and Hill agrees that since we're training her and she's on a SHIELD team, any and all information on her should be dug up as a matter of course.'

Ward reaches for the bottle again before pausing, and then pushing it away. 'I think I'm done for the night.'

'You should talk to her,' Coulson says, picking up the bottle himself and pouring a generous slug of whiskey. 'Even if you aren't ready to forgive her or trust her again, you should at least let her know that you can be cordial… or even just civil.'

Ward sighs and runs his hand through his hair, mussing it up. 'I think I'll sleep on it, sir.'

Coulson shakes his head, but lets him go anyway. 'Just know that she won't.'

Ward feels a little guilt at that, but figures that she _did_ betray all of their trust. A sleepless night thinking things over might remind her who she _can_ trust.

::

She's heading for the bathroom just as he's walking out, hair neatly combed and still damp from the shower, the smell of aftershave and shampoo clinging to him like his dark grey t-shirt clings to his broad shoulders.

Idly, she wonders if he ever wears colours. The most colour she's ever seen him in is the blue jeans that's he's wearing.

'Hey,' she says quietly, wondering if he'll reply.

'Morning,' he says briskly before moving off. Well, it's better than the outright dismissal that she had earlier, and it's even slightly civil. He was well in his right to ignore her, just push past without saying a thing, and she's slightly surprised. She knows that he knows about her now, heard Coulson telling him about her mysterious past, heard them discussing the various possibilities. She knows now that Coulson has requested the uncensored document; she hopes it isn't any trouble, or anything. She's already caused him so much trouble that it would very much suck if she did anything else, even inadvertently.

She uses the bathroom, applies her makeup a little bit heavier than she usually does to cover up the evidence of her sleepless night. She feels ridiculously tired – her body, that is. Her mind is still racing at a million miles an hour, and Ward's unexpected civility has put a foot on the accelerator, so to speak.

She steps out of the bathroom and after stashing her stuff back in her bunk, she walks to the breakfast table where she expects icy civility, if not outright unkindness. She accepts that she deserves it.

It's a pity she's not as good at reading people as Ward is, because then she'd know better than that.

Coulson smiles at her and tells her that the document is being looked into before going back to the tablet that he uses mainly as his morning newspaper while eating his toast and drinking his coffee. FitzSimmons is as they usually are in the morning; bright, cheerful and excited about what the day has to come. They greet her with a "good morning" and a friendly wave where a mouth is too full to actually speak with any resemblance of English. May treats her as she usually does, quietly and reservedly, although there is a bit more suspicion in her demeanour than there was before. Ward acts as he usually does in the morning; quiet, dour and also wondering about what the day has to come – he never is excited about it like FitzSimmons because he's had too many days in which he ends up lying to, killing or hurting people and he knows that it could happen again today.

Skye says "good morning" quietly, without her usual verve or charisma, but they just accept this. They know that she feels bad about what has been done.

'Where should I set course for?' May asks Coulson, who changes the page on his newspaper with a casual flick of his finger.

'New York,' he says, not lifting his eyes from the tablet. 'I think we ought to touch base, resupply our ammunitions, weapons stocks, check in with Hill, make sure there haven't been any major developments in cases. Ward, I know that Romanoff wants to talk to you. Something about an attitude adjustment. I guess she saw the porcupine.'

Ward just grunts and goes back to his cereal.

'Porcupine?' Simmons asks, seeing that Skye won't, despite being the one that they usually rely on for asking questions about things that seem very random.

'I thought it was a poop with knives in it, sir,' Ward grumbles, reaching for a piece of toast.

'No, a porcupine,' Coulson says blithely.

FitzSimmons and Skye still have no clue as to what they are talking about, while May has a mysterious smile on her face that says that she knows exactly what they're discussing.

'Alright,' Ward says, getting up from the table. 'Skye, you've got five minutes, or else you'll be starting your training with push-ups. Again.'

Skye's eyes flick to his, but they remain stony, and she knows that this session isn't going to be a pleasant one.

'Okay,' she says quietly before scoffing down a piece of toast and some coffee. Ward leaves the room, most likely to start setting up downstairs. 'So, the uh, training, it's still a thing?'

'Why not?' Coulson asks lightly, and she knows a rhetorical question when she hears one.

'Okay,' she says again before getting up and leaving the breakfast table.

'Skye,' May calls, much to her surprise.

She turns and just catches the water bottle that May throws, fumbling a little.

'Ward said he was going to work on stamina today,' May explains, returning to her breakfast. 'You'll need that.'

'Thanks,' Skye mumbles, surprised. The last thing she's expected is civility from the older woman.

May says nothing, and goes back to her cereal and coffee.

Skye walks down the stairs, where Ward is standing, eyes on his watch.

'Ten seconds to spare,' Ward notes. 'Good.' He points to the dreaded bar, hanging from chains from the staircase. 'Fifty pull-ups. Go.'

Skye wants to grumble, but she internalises it. She owes him an apology, and starting it by grumbling about pull-ups isn't the way to go about it.

'Ward, about yesterday,' she pants after the first ten. 'I just want you to know, I'm sorry.'

'Keep going,' he says, leaning against the staircase. She hasn't the faintest clue whether he means the pull-ups or the apology. Just to make sure, she keeps going with both. She's done twenty-five pull-ups now, half-way, which is usually where she starts complaining about how badly her arms are burning, but this time she bites her tongue.

'Miles taught me everything I know,' Skye says in between pull-ups, panting a little. 'Well, almost everything. So, in some ways, I felt like I owed him.'

'Debt paid now?' Ward asks bluntly, reaching up and readjusting her hands. They're slipping slightly.

'If it's not, it never will be now,' Skye says.

'You've cut ties with him?' Ward asks, and it's clear that he's surprised. Miles was clearly someone that she was close with.

'I've cut ties with the Rising Tide,' Skye admits for the first time out loud, and she has to pause in her pull-ups for a moment and close her eyes against the sting of tears. She doesn't think that she's moved on to anything _better_, just different.

There's a warm hand on her shoulder, and then his voice in her ear. 'Five more.'

She sighs heavily before going back to the pull-ups. Five… four… three… two… one.

'Done,' she says, relief heavy in her tone.

'Good work,' he says quietly, before pointing to the floor. 'Fifty sit-ups.'

She sighs a little, but goes to do them again without complaint.

'Does the Rising Tide _know_ that you've cut ties with them?' Ward asks.

'Miles has probably already told them,' Skye says before pausing. 'If he's in the US yet, that is.'

'If he's half as smart as you people made him out to be, he would've gone to the US Embassy,' Ward says, giving the heavy bag a light punch which barely makes it swing.

Skye finishes her sit-ups in silence before lying on the floor and staring up at the ceiling.

'I know nothing about myself,' she says to the ceiling.

Ward pauses before lying down next to her. The cargo bay is cold and uncomfortable. 'That makes two of us, that know nothing about you.'

Skye sighs. 'You know, don't you? Why I targeted SHIELD.'

'Coulson showed me,' Ward admits. 'Why not just join SHIELD?'

'To join SHIELD, you need a last name, and a family history,' Skye reminds him softly, and he remembers the multiple interviews he had with psychologists to make sure that his own personal family history wouldn't make him vulnerable in the field.

'Oh,' he says, understanding. 'Well, you're good at hacking. Why couldn't you have just made up a family history and a last name?'

Skye laughs softly. 'I applied before I knew how to do that stuff. It's where Miles picked me up, started talking about joining the Rising Tide.'

Ward wonders how many other Rising Tide assets are rejected SHIELD applicants, or disgruntled ex-SHIELD employees.

'You're on to something with the whole choosing my own last-name thing, though,' she says speculatively.

'What would you choose?' Ward asks. He's been so many different names over the years that Ward himself feels like just another cover. His SHIELD cover.

'Something cool,' Skye says. 'Ooh, I know. Skye Blue.'

'That's not cool, that's ridiculously corny,' Ward points out.

'Maybe I _am_ ridiculously corny,' Skye says. 'You don't know me all that well.'

'Fine, then,' Ward says. 'Would you like it if I called you Skye Blue from now on?'

'Nah,' she says. 'Ooh! Skye High.'

'That's even worse.'

'Skye Fall.'

He turns his head and gives her his patented "Are you kidding me?" look.

'Skye… Cloud.'

'Is there any other kind?' he asks dryly.

She rolls her eyes. 'Skye Lark.'

'Really?'

'Skye Dive.'

Now he rolls his eyes.

'Skye Light.'

'Now you're just being ridiculous.'

'Skye… Scraper.'

'Scratch that last. _Now_ you're being ridiculous.'

She thinks for a minute before grinning. 'Skyward. Skye Ward. Huh.'

Ward sits bolt upright. 'No! You are _not_ taking my name.'

'Funny how it fits, though,' she says with a grin, also sitting up.

Ward groans softly and gets up. 'Come on, we're supposed to be training.'

'Isn't this SO-trainee bonding?' Skye asks, letting him pull her up.

He sighs and points to the heavy bag. 'Ten minutes. And keep your hands up.'

'Yes, sir,' she says with a laugh, and goes to it.

Ward shakes his head as he makes note of the time. He'll never understand how her mind works, let alone _her_.

Then again – if it wasn't challenging, it wouldn't be fun.

::

**Well, yes, it's **_**another**_** 1x05 "Girl In the Flower Dress" WHN from me (but when there's a two week gap between episodes, who can blame me?) and I tried to look into Ward's own motivations and ideas. For him to be as good at espionage as they say he is (best scores since Romanoff, who here I wrote as his SO – it makes sense in my mind) he'd have to be very good at reading people, so here he is, taking a look at each of the characters on the Bus.**

**Some commented in my other story, "Truth" that Ward forgave Skye a little too early to be in character. Here, Ward hasn't actually forgiven her, and he left her hanging for a while, sleeping on his emotions so that in the end, he made a more logical decision to be civil, and try and understand her motivations. I don't think anyone on the Bus would be outright unkind to her, and I think after proving herself in future episodes, they'll trust Skye again.**

**Anyways, maybe you agree with me, maybe not. It'd be great to have some feedback (hint, hint: review), and I really hope that you liked it. **

**XD PurpleHipposRock**


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